Ed Sheeran sets new attendance record in Perth

Ed Sheeran’s December 2 show more than had a crowd singing along for almost two hours to just a man and his acoustic guitar. It also set a new attendance record for nib Stadium in Perth, playing to 32,000 fans.

Sheeran broke the attendance milestone rung in by the Foo Fighters in March with just under 32,000 after drawing 29,329 there in 2011.

Both the Sheeran and Foo Fighters shows were through promoter Frontier Touring.

David Etherton, CEO of VenuesWest which owns the stadium on behalf of the State government, said, “Not since the Foo Fighters back in March have this many patrons attended nib Stadium and I commend this great effort to all the floor staff, security, the venue response team and event and food staff for making it a great success.” 

Following the huge success at Foo Fighters, VenuesWest presented the same stage configuration for Sheeran, by facing across the pitch towards the recently constructed East Grandstand. This was part of the $95 million redevelopment of the stadium in 2013 by the WA Government, which also included a new Southern Grandstand and new electronic scoreboards 

Due to the size of the event and the number of tickets sold, more than 215 security personnel were in attendance. 

The turnout for the Sheeran show was further impressive given that he played two sold-out gigs at the 15,500 capacity Perth Arena on his X World Tour only eight months ago. VenuesWest also operates Perth Arena, and will oversee Perth Stadium, which is expected to be completed in 2018.

Etherton said, “This is the second time that Ed Sheeran has played in Perth but this is the first time he has played at nib Stadium and we are delighted Ed Sheeran and Frontier Touring chose our venue.”